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Comment on Ask HN: why is it faster to delete files from a disc than to write them?

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Inigo Montoya has it: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

"Delete" in almost any computer context means "forget" not "erase." "Forget" the file metadata (generally the name, the link to the beginning of the chain of blocks on disk, etc.), "forget" the pointer to a block of memory, etc. Systems specifically designed for security may have additional provisions that turn those "forget" operations into "overwrite-and-forget," but in general simple forgetting is preferred for speed.

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